Ultrasonic Audio

Acouspade Directional speakers

The
Acouspade™ is a hyper-directional speaker, emitting a highly directional beam of sound. It is able to place a particular sound at a desired spatial location, while preserving silence where the sound is not needed. The Acouspade directional sound system also allows the co-existence of different sounds in a relatively small spatial area without mixing or interfering. The laser-like directionality of sound is achieved by exploiting the parametric array effect. The Acouspade directional speakers creates an audio spotlight phenomenon, which can turn selected objects into virtual sound sources, reflecting the primary beam of sound.

Acouspade

The Acouspade™ hyper directional speaker enables you to focus a beam of sound to a specific point in the environment and to address the public with precise acoustic content at precise locations.

The Acouspade directional speaker can deliver a narrow beam of sound to a desired area while preserving silence around it, or allowing the co-existence of different sounds in the same space without mixing or interfering. The audio-beam created by Acouspade can cut through noisy environments and deliver a headphone-like experience for the listener.

New features: powered speaker, Bluetooth and motion detection

The new Acouspade Classic was re-launched in 2017, reviving the circular shape of the classic design form our first directional speakers, launched in 2011. Unlike the original Classic directional speakers, which had an external amplifier, the new Acouspade Classic integrates a miniaturized amplifier within the emitter housing. The new Acouspade Classic uses a Class-D amplifier and a fully digital signal processing system. Like the new Acouspade, it can deliver a narrow beam of sound to a desired area, where the sound is needed, while preserving silence around it.

Applications

Retail

Digital signage

Museum and gallery installations

Fairs and trade shows

Digital kiosks

Libraries

Automotive applications

Slot machines

Bars, restaurants

Hearing aid

Acouspade – mounting options

Spotlight mode

In case the Acouspade directional speaker is mounted on the same wall – on top or bellow the digital sign, it needs to point diagonally downwards or upwards respectively, in order for the audio beam to reach all possible heights of users. In this mode the sound can not always be heard at the exact same spot, since the listening spot will depend on the users height. In case of a digital-signage situation this should not be a problem since the listening spot will always be in front of the digital screen, but the distance of the sweet-spot from the screen will be determined by the person’s height and will vary within 1 to 2 meters. This mounting mode will also create more audible artifacts around the room, since the first surface (floor or ceiling) will be hit in a specific angle, which will reflect the sound to the next surface, and so on.

Sound shower mode

Ideally, the Acouspade directional speaker should be mounted on the ceiling, facing the floor. This creates a typical “sound-shower” situation, making the sound audible only at one spot in the room, while enabling it to be heard by people – of all heights – at the same spot. The sound-shower mode is also the best solution to minimize reflections of the sound and its audibility at different locations around the room. The sound starts to travel from the ceiling, bounces off the floor and is reflected back to the same spot at the ceiling, and so on.

Virtual speaker mode

A very interesting mounting situation is the “Virtual speaker mode”, where the speaker is not pointing directly towards the user. Instead, the speaker is pointing towards the digital sign, (or any other object that you want to draw attention to, by using directional sound) from which the sound beam bounces and arrives at the user indirectly. This situation makes it appear as if the sound originates from the object that it is being reflected from. The actual sound source remains hidden and is not noticed by the user.